2011 State of the Union address: on Education

Barack Obama: OpEd: Study visas for foreigners means brain drain abroad

"Others come here from abroad to study in our colleges and universities. But as soon as they obtain advanced degrees, we send them back home to compete against us. It makes no sense."

Of course, we are expected to excuse this promotion of the brain drain, which our friend Obama has no interest in trying to hide, we must excuse him given his passion for science and healthy competition.

Barack Obama: Race to the Top: reward innovation in public schools

Race to the Top is the most meaningful reform of our public schools in a generation. For less than 1% of what we spend on education each year, it has led over 40 states to raise their standards for teaching and learning. And these standards were developed, by the way, not by Washington, but by Republican and Democratic governors throughout the country. And Race to the Top should be the approach we follow this year as we replace No Child Left Behind with a law that's more flexible and focused on what's best for our kids.

Barack Obama: FactCheck: Race to the Top has only rewarded 12 states

Although the majority of states did not receive funding, the Obama administration takes the position that the competition for the funding alone resulted in sweeping education changes in most states. In August, the Dept. of Education said in competing, "35 states and the District of Columbia have adopted rigorous common, college- and career-ready standards in reading and math, and 34 states have changed laws or policies to improve education."